Influence of Atmospheric Dispersion and New Particle Formation Events on Ambient Particle Number Concentration in Rochester, United States, and Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Continuous measurements of particle number concentrations were performed in Rochester, NY, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 2003 calendar year. Strong seasonal dependency in particle number concentration was observed at two sites. The average number concentration of ambient particles was 9670 ± 6960 cm⁻³ in Rochester, whereas in Toronto the average number of particles was 28,010 ± 13,350 cm⁻³. The particle number concentrations were higher in winter months than in summer months by a factor of 1.5 in Rochester and 1.6 in Toronto. In general, there were also distinct diurnal variations of aerosol number concentration. The highest weekdays/weekends ratio of number concentration was typically observed during the rush-hour period in winter months with a ratio of 2.1 in Rochester and 2.0 in Toronto. The correlation in the total particle number concentrations between the two urban sites was stronger in winter because of the common urban traffic patterns, but weaker in summer because of local sulfur dioxide (SO₂) related particle formation events in Rochester in the summer. Strong morning particle formation events were frequently observed during colder winter months. Good correlations between particle number and carbon monoxide (CO) as well as temperature suggested that motor-vehicle emissions lead to the formation of new particles as the exhaust mixes with the cold air. Regional nucleation and growth events frequently occurred in April. Local SO₂-related particle formation events most frequently occurred in August. SO₂ and UV-B were highly correlated with particle concentration, suggesting a high association of photochemical processes with these local events. A high directionality in a northerly direction was observed for particle number and SO₂, indicating the influence of point sources located north of Rochester.